I’m not criticizing anyone for making a “wrong” decision (as there is no wrong decision in this case), rather merely stating what I think and what I would do. I was mulling over this tweet as I was writing this.

Were I a young, bright, potentially college-bound kid today, I would not under any circumstances go to college if I had to take on any more than about $10,000 in debt. The job prospects are just too uncertain and at least in the US that debt will follow you around (and grow) forever if you don’t manage to land a decent job. That debt is also not able to be discharged in bankruptcy.

Now, going to college at all unless you can pay for it in full or receive a full-ride scholarship is an enormous risk, just as risky as buying a house was at the height of the housing bubble.

Some people will come out ok – but many will lose everything. That’s the nature of risk, and you never really know which side you are going to be on until it all goes up in flames.

So what would I do were I 16 again and didn’t join the army (as I did in real life)? I’d quit high school, immediately get a GED, and get all the technical and related certifications I could find, preferably on the more exotic and/or up-and-coming IT and similar systems out there.

Then I’d have a guaranteed job for at least 10 years, making more than most college grads.

If you really do want to go to college, work for 6-7 years, and save like mad. If you get a decent, hard cert and start a “real” IT job at 21, you should be able to save something like $70,000 by the time you are 26. Then go to college all you like.

John Scalzi thinks the same as I do about Windows 8. It’s for Fisher Price playtime, and not for working. The same of course is true for Unity, Gnome Shell, etc., though I think Windows 8 is by far the worst offender.

I did this because simply put I’ve come to believe the Win 8 start screen, and the whole environment it propagates is just terrible UI for those of us who actually use their computers for work, rather than using them just to play games and get on Facebook. When I’m working I often have several programs open in several windows, and have those windows up where I can see them all, because each window has information relevant to what I’m doing. If I need to access additional programs, I don’t want to have to leave that environment; it messes with work flow.

Reading tech sites and all those who proclaim to love Windows 8, I quickly realized how few so-called geeks actually do any more with their computers than play with them – as no one who actually does any work with a machine could ever really use Windows 8.

Unity I can kind of make useful for work though it slows me down a great deal, but Windows 8 is hopeless. It’s like being back in Windows 1.0 again.

I don’t see how some company can’t not come up with an OS oriented to professionals. These clownish OSes designed for clicking on Facebook and typing “ROTFL” are not acceptable for someone who needs to get actual work done.